Jason Collins Found Out About Being Traded Via Hoopshype?

Needless to say, it’s a bit of a tough break for Jason Collins, who has been shipped out of town unexpectedly at the trade deadline to the Washington Wizards. The C’d probably didn’t want to trade the big man, but given the fact the C’s had to add another player to Leandro Barbosa to make salaries match in Boston’s acquisition of Jordan Crawford.

Collins did his job adequately while he was here, giving Doc Rivers some solid defense, strong picks, but as always next to nothing on the offensive end of the floor. Ultimately though, with a decision coming down to Chris Wilcox or Collins on who would help this team more for the remainder of the season, the front office went with Collins. The C’s will now look to the free agent market and hope for buyouts to fill the big man void on the bench. For now though, we have to sympathize with Collins a little bit, who apparently learned about today’s trade the hard way.

Jason Collins says he found out about trade through a buddy who read Hoopshype and then got call from Ainge. Said he enjoyed #celtics

Our guy Chris Forsberg from ESPNBoston.com is on the scene in LA with the team and caught up with Collins today.

Collins gushed about his time in Boston on Thursday while departing the team hotel and prepping for his next NBA adventure with the Wizards. Trades, he noted, are simply an occupational hazard.

“That’s part of the NBA. You’re not just making a commitment, but you’re making a commitment to yourself and then to the team and understand that there’s a business side to the sport,” said Collins. “It’s not the first time I’ve been traded. Obviously, I understand everything that’s involved in it.”

Collins averaged 1.2 points and 1.6 rebounds over 10.3 minutes per game in 32 appearances for Boston, including a seven-game stint as a starter. The Celtics moved him Thursday looking to add guard depth after being thinned by season-ending injuries to Rajon Rondo and Leandro Barbosa.

“I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Collins. “Playing with future Hall of Famers, playing for a future Hall-of-Fame coach, in my opinion, in Doc Rivers — one of the best coaches in the league. I learned a lot even for someone who’s played 12 years in this league. I’m still learning new things every single day. I learned a lot from him. It was an honor to play for one of the greatest organizations in the history of the NBA.”

wow. talk about comittment. at least Pierce and Garnett are staying in boston.

Phil725

Classy comments from Collins in what was an unfortunate (and apparently somewhat unprofessional,) break for him. Criticize his game if you want, but you can't say anything bad about him from a maturity, clubhouse or off court perspective. I wish him the best going forward; his steady presence on and off the court will probably keep him in the league a few more years.

I have a similar sentiment for Barbosa as well. His situation seemed more fated after the injury, but he always seemed like one of the most personable and likeable guys on the team. Hopefully he comes back strong once his knee heals up.

KillerGymRat

Class act. Wish you well Jason.

ghoulbuns

Ainge has lost it

High Rollers

Class act is right. Wish you well, JC.

Jim

Jason,
Thanks for the effort. We wish you well!

chris m

I wish him the best. Hey if somebody paid me over a million dollars to do what he does I’d be pretty optimistic.